Delivery Method and Delivery Control Device

ABSTRACT

The present application discloses a delivery method and a delivery control device. The delivery method includes steps S 1  to S 3 . In the step S 1 , request information sent by a user is acquired, the request information including user location information which indicates a current position of the user. In the Step S 2 , a delivery apparatus for the user is selected among at least two types of delivery apparatuses according to the user location information. In the Step S 3 , the selected delivery apparatus is controlled to deliver an article or service to the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/813,659, filed on Nov. 15, 2017, entitled DELIVERY METHOD ANDDELIVERY CONTROL DEVICE, which claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201611034249.X, field on Nov. 16, 2016, the content ofeach of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligence service, andparticularly to a delivery method and a delivery control device.

BACKGROUND

In some large venues, self-service apparatuses such as vending machinesare typically placed within certain areas to provide correspondingarticles or services to users, in view that a user may want somearticles or services provided by articles according to the user's ownneeds.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a delivery method,including:

step S1: acquiring request information sent by a user, the requestinformation including user location information which indicates acurrent position of the user;

step S2: selecting, according to the user location information, adelivery apparatus for the user among at least two types of deliveryapparatuses; and

step S3: controlling the selected delivery apparatus to deliver anarticle and/or service to the user.

Optionally, the at least two types of delivery apparatuses includerobots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The step S2 includesdetermining whether a delivery type for the user is UAV delivery, robotdelivery or unable to deliver according to the user locationinformation, a location and a state of a robot, and a location and astate of a UAV, and determining an identifier of a delivery apparatusfor delivering an article and/or service to the user among the deliveryapparatuses.

Optionally, the state of a robot includes an idle state, a taskexecution state and other state(s), the state of a UAV includes an idlestate and a task execution state, and the step S2 includes:

step S201: determining whether a first delivery type for the user is UAVdelivery, provisional robot delivery or unable to deliver according tothe user location information, respective location information of robotsin the idle state or the task execution state, and respective locationinformation of UAVs in the idle state; in a case where the firstdelivery type is determined to be unable to deliver, performing stepS202, and in a case where the first delivery type is determined to beUAV delivery, performing step S203;

step S202: returning information for indicating a delivery request beingfailed to the user; and

step S203: determining an identifier of a UAV in the idle state andclosest to the user, and switching a state of the UAV having thedetermined identifier to the task execution state.

In a case where the delivery apparatus corresponding to the user is aUAV, the step S3 includes:

step S301: controlling a UAV having the determined identifier to deliveran article and/or service to the user.

Optionally, the step S201 includes:

step S2011: determining whether there is any robot in the idle state orthe task execution state within a first area where the user is located;in a case where it is determined that there is a robot in the idle stateor the task execution state within the first area, performing stepS2012, and in a case where it is determined that there is no robot inthe idle state or the task execution state within the first area,performing step S2013;

step S2012: determining whether or not the user is located within anon-robot active region according to the user location information; in acase where it is determined that the user is located within thenon-robot active region, performing step S2013, and in a case where itis determined that the user is not located within the non-robot activeregion, determining the first delivery type for the user to beprovisional robot delivery; and

step S2013: determining whether there is any UAV in the idle statewithin a second area where the user is located; in a case where it isdetermined that there is a UAV in the idle state within the second area,determining the first delivery type for the user to be UAV delivery, andin a case where it is determined that there is no UAV in the idle statewithin the second area, determining the first delivery type for the userto be unable to deliver.

Optionally, in a case where the first delivery type is determined in thestep S201 to be provisional robot delivery, the step S2 furtherincludes:

step S204: acquiring the user location information for all users forwhich the first delivery type is determined to be provisional robotdelivery within a first period of time, and performing a clusteringprocess on the acquired user location information to obtain one or morefirst cluster areas and location information of respective first clustercenters of the one or more first cluster areas;

step S205: determining, for each first cluster center, whether a seconddelivery type for the first cluster center is UAV delivery or robotdelivery according to the location information of the first clustercenter and the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center; in a case where the seconddelivery type for the first cluster center is determined to be UAVdelivery, performing step S206, and in a case where the second deliverytype for the first cluster center is determined to be robot delivery,performing step S207;

step S206: determining an identifier of a UAV in the idle state andclosest to the first cluster center, and switching a state of the UAVhaving the determined identifier to the task execution state;

step S207: calculating delivery costs of robots in the idle state androbots in the task execution state for the first cluster center, thedelivery cost of a robot for a first cluster center being associatedwith a distance from the robot to the first cluster center, and

step S208: determining an identifier of a robot having the lowestdelivery cost according to the delivery costs for respective robotscalculated in the step S207, and switching a state of the robot havingthe determined identifier to the task execution state.

Optionally, the delivery cost of a robot in the idle state for a firstcluster center is equal to a distance from the robot to the firstcluster center;

in a case where an angle between a first direction from a robot in thetask execution state towards a target position for a task being executedby the robot and a second direction from the robot in the task executionstate towards the first cluster center is less than or equal to an anglethreshold, the delivery cost of the robot in the task execution statefor a first cluster center is equal to a distance from the robot in thetask execution state to the first cluster center, in a case where theangle between the first direction and the second direction is largerthan the angle threshold, the delivery cost of the robot in the taskexecution state for a first cluster center is equal to a sum of adistance from the robot in the task execution state to the targetposition and a distance from the target position to the first clustercenter.

Optionally, the step S3 includes:

step S301: in a case where the first delivery type is determined in thestep S201 to be UAV delivery and the identifier of the UAV in the idlestate and closest to the user has been determined in the step S203,controlling the UAV having the determined identifier to deliver anarticle and/or service to the user;

step S302: in a case where the second delivery type is determined in thestep S205 to be UAV delivery and the identifier of the UAV in the idlestate and closest to the first cluster center has been determined in thestep S206, controlling the UAV having the determined identifier todeliver an article and/or service to the first cluster center; and

step S303: in a case where the second delivery type is determined in thestep S205 to be robot delivery and the identifier of the robot havingthe lowest delivery cost has been determined in the step S208,controlling the robot having the determined identifier to deliver anarticle and/or service to the first cluster center corresponding to therobot having the determined identifier.

Optionally, the step S205 includes:

step S2051: determining, for each first cluster center, whether or notthe number of users within the first cluster area corresponding to thefirst cluster center is less than a threshold number of users; in a casewhere it is determined that the number of users within the first clusterarea corresponding to the first cluster center is less than thethreshold number of users, performing step S2052, and in a case where itis determined that the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center is larger than or equal to thethreshold number of users, determining the second delivery type to berobot delivery; and

step S2052: determining whether there is any robot in the idle state orthe task execution state within a third area in which the first clustercenter is located; in a case where it is determined that there is arobot in the idle state or the task execution state within the thirdarea, determining the second delivery type for the first cluster centerto be robot delivery, and in a case where it is determined that there isno robot in the idle state or the task execution state within the thirdarea, determining the second delivery type for the first cluster centerto be UAV delivery.

Optionally, the delivery method includes, subsequent to the step S3:

step S4: acquiring location information for all persons within a firstregion, and performing a clustering process on the acquired locationinformation to obtain one or more second cluster area(s) and locationinformation of respective second cluster center(s) of the one or moresecond cluster area(s), all second cluster center(s) constituting afirst set and all robots in the idle state constituting a second set;

step S5: calculating, for each second cluster center in the first set,distances from the second cluster center to respective robots in theidle state in the second set;

step S6: selecting the minimum distance among the distances calculatedin the step S5, and determining the second cluster center and the robotby which the minimum distance is calculated;

step S7: controlling the robot determined in the step S6 to move towardsthe second cluster center determined in the step S6, and switching astate of the robot determined in the step S6 from the idle state to anoptimizing distribution state;

step S8: removing the second cluster center determined in the step S6from the first set, and removing the robot determined in the step S6from the second set; and

step S9: determining whether or not each of the first set and the secondset is an empty set, and in a case where none of the first set and thesecond set is an empty set, returning to the step S5.

Optionally, the delivery method further includes:

step S10: determining whether or not a battery power of each of therobots in the idle state is less than a battery power threshold, and ina case where it is determined that the battery power of the robot in theidle state is less than the battery power threshold, performing stepS11;

step S11: controlling the robot of which the battery power is less thanthe battery power threshold to move to a predetermined charging stationto charge itself, and switching a state of the robot of which thebattery power is less than the battery power threshold to a chargingstate.

In another aspect, the present disclosure further provides a deliverycontrol device, which includes a storage device and one or moreprocessors coupled to the storage device. The storage device isconfigured to store computer-executable instructions, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto perform the following operations:

acquiring request information sent by a user, the request informationincluding user location information which indicates a current positionof the user,

selecting, according to the user location information, a deliveryapparatus for the user among at least two types of delivery apparatuses;and

controlling the selected delivery apparatus to deliver an article and/orservice to the user.

Optionally, the at least two types of delivery apparatuses includerobots and UAVs, and the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

determining whether a delivery type for the user is UAV delivery, robotdelivery or unable to deliver according to the user locationinformation, a location and a state of a robot, and a location and astate of a UAV, and determining an identifier of a specific deliveryapparatus for delivering an article and/or service to the user among thedelivery apparatuses.

Optionally, the state of a robot includes an idle state, a taskexecution state and other state(s), the state of a UAV includes an idlestate and a task execution state, and

the storage device is configured to store computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform the following operations:

determining whether a first delivery type for the user is UAV delivery,provisional robot delivery or unable to deliver according to the userlocation information, respective location information of the robots inthe idle state or the task execution state, and respective locationinformation of the UAVs in the idle state;

in a case where the first delivery type is determined to be unable todeliver, returning information for indicating a delivery request beingfailed to the user; and

in a case where the first delivery type is determined to be UAVdelivery, determining an identifier of a UAV in the idle state andclosest to the user, switching a state of the UAV having the determinedidentifier to the task execution state, and controlling the UAV havingthe determined identifier to deliver an article and/or service to theuser.

Optionally, the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

determining whether there is any robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within a first area where the user is located;

in a case where it is determined that there is a robot in the idle stateor the task execution state within the first area, determining whetheror not the user is located within a non-robot active region according tothe user location information;

in a case where it is determined that there is no robot in the idlestate or the task execution state within the first area or it isdetermined that the user is located within the non-robot active region,determining whether there is any UAV in the idle state within a secondarea that is an area encircled by a circle, a circular center of whichis a position of the user and a radius of which is a secondpredetermined distance;

in a case where it is determined that the user is not located within thenon-robot active region, determining the first delivery type for theuser to be provisional robot delivery; in a case where it is determinedthat there is a UAV in the idle state within the second area,determining the first delivery type to be UAV delivery, and in a casewhere it is determined that there is no UAV in the idle state within thesecond area, determining the first delivery type to be unable todeliver.

Optionally, the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

acquiring the user location information for all users for which thefirst delivery type is determined to be provisional robot deliverywithin a first period of time, and performing a clustering process onthe acquired user location information to obtain one or more firstcluster area(s) and location information of respective first clustercenter(s) of the one or more first cluster area(s);

determining, for each first cluster center, whether a second deliverytype for the first cluster center is UAV delivery or robot deliveryaccording to the location information of the first cluster center andthe number of users within the first cluster area corresponding to thefirst cluster center;

in a case where the second delivery type for the first cluster center isdetermined to be UAV delivery, determining an identifier of a UAV in theidle state and closest to the first cluster center, and switching astate of the UAV having the determined identifier to the task executionstate;

in a case where the second delivery type for the first cluster center isdetermined to be robot delivery, calculating delivery costs of robots inthe idle state and robots in the task execution state, the delivery costof a robot for a first cluster center being associated with a distancefrom the robot to the first cluster center, determining an identifier ofa robot having the lowest delivery cost; and switching a state of therobot having the determined identifier to the task execution state;

after the state of the UAV having the determined identifier is switchedto the task execution state, controlling the UAV having the determinedidentifier to deliver an article and/or service to the first clustercenter; and

after the state of the robot having the determined identifier isswitched to the task execution state, controlling the robot having thedetermined identifier to deliver an article and/or service to the firstcluster center.

Optionally, the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

determining, for each first cluster center, whether or not the number ofusers within the first cluster area corresponding to the first clustercenter is less than a threshold number of users;

in a case where it is determined that the number of users within thefirst cluster area corresponding to the first cluster center is lessthan the threshold number of users, determining whether there is anyrobot in the idle state or the task execution state within a third areain which the first cluster center is located; and

in a case where it is determined that the number of users within thefirst cluster area corresponding to the first cluster center is largerthan or equal to the threshold number of users, determining the seconddelivery type to be robot delivery; in a case where it is determinedthat there is a robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin the third area, determining the second delivery type for thefirst cluster center to be robot delivery; and in a case where it isdetermined that there is no robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within the third area, determining the second deliverytype for the first cluster center to be UAV delivery.

Optionally, the at least two types of delivery apparatuses includerobots and UAVs, and the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

acquiring location information for all persons within a first region,and performing a clustering process on the acquired location informationfor all persons to obtain one or more second cluster areas and locationinformation of respective second cluster centers of the one or moresecond cluster areas, all second cluster centers constituting a firstset and all robots in the idle state constituting a second set;

calculating, for each second cluster center in the first set, distancesfrom the second cluster center to respective robots in the idle state inthe second set;

selecting the minimum distance among the calculated distances, anddetermining the second cluster center and the robot by which the minimumdistance is calculated;

controlling the determined robot to move towards the determined secondcluster center, and switching a state of the determined robot from theidle state to an optimizing distribution state;

removing the determined second cluster center from the first set, andremoving the determined robot from the second set; and

determining whether or not each of the first set and the second set isan empty set, and in a case where none of the first set and the secondset is an empty set, performing the calculation of the distances again.

Optionally, the at least two types of delivery apparatuses includerobots and UAVs, and the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform the followingoperations:

determining whether or not a battery power of each of the robots in theidle state is less than a battery power threshold; and

in a case where it is determined that the battery power of the robot isless than the battery power threshold, controlling the robot of whichthe battery power is less than the battery power threshold to move to apredetermined charging station to charge itself, and switching a stateof the robot of which the battery power is less than the battery powerthreshold to a charging state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart specifically illustrating step S201 of thedelivery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart specifically illustrating step S205 of thedelivery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a calculation of a deliverycost according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a deliverycontrol device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of the deliveryapparatus selection module 2 shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To make those skilled in the art better understand the technicalsolutions of the present disclosure, a delivery method and a deliverycontrol apparatus according to the present disclosure will be furtherdescribed in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

It should be noted that, the term “robot” herein refers to a machineapparatus capable of automatically executing tasks according tocorresponding instructions, which can carry a large amount of articlesfor selection by a user so as to adapt intelligence service scenarios.The term “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV) herein refers to an unmannedaircraft operated by a radio remote control device and its own programcontrol device, which can carry a certain amount of articles forselection by a user. Compared with robots, UAVs move faster and cantravel farther, but UAVs cost more to travel per unit distance. Bothrobots and UAVs are equipped with differential GPS for positioning. Inaddition to articles, the robots and UAVs can also provide service tousers. The service is not limited to a self-service provided by avending machine described as a background, and it can be any service aslong as a facility for providing the service can be integrated with therobots and UAVs.

To facilitate management of the system, a state of the robot in thepresent disclosure can be switched among an idle state, a task executionstate, a task completion state, a charging state and an optimizingdistribution state. A state of the UAV in the present disclosure can beswitched among an idle state, a task execution state, and a taskcompletion state.

The term “idle state” herein refers to a state in which a robot/UAV iscurrently idle (i.e., the robot/UAV has no delivery task). The term“task execution state” herein refers to a state in which a robot/UAV isexecuting a task (i.e., the robot/UAV has a specific target position togo). For robots, the term “task completion state” herein refers to astate to which a robot is automatically switched in-situ after itcompletes a task and in which the robot waits for a next instruction(e.g., an instruction for controlling the robot to switch from the taskcompletion state to the idle state by the system) from the system. ForUAVs, a UAV automatically returns to a departure position (e.g., acorresponding parking apron) of the UAV after it completes a task andwaits for a next instruction from the system after it returns to thedeparture position, and thus the term “task completion state” hereinrefers to a state in which the UAV is returning from a target positionfor a task executed by the UAV to the departure position, arriving atthe departure position and waiting until receiving a next instruction.The term “charging state” herein refers to a state in which a robot ischarging. The term “optimizing distribution state” herein refers to astate in which a robot currently executes no task but is required tomove to a position indicated by an instruction of the system (forexample, optimization instruction) according to the instruction of thesystem.

In addition, the term “user” in the present disclosure refers to a humanbeing or an apparatus currently requesting a self service, and the term“persons” refers to general human beings, including a group of currentusers and a group of non-users.

A conventional self-service apparatus is pre-placed by a designer of avenue, and thus the location thereof is fixed and unadjustable,resulting in that a user has to move to a particular position to get acorresponding service, thereby having some limitations.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the delivery methodincludes steps S1 to S3.

In the step S1, request information sent by a user is acquired, whereinthe request information includes user location information whichindicates a current position of the user.

For example, when a user needs self-service or an article, the user cansend request information to a corresponding delivery control devicethrough a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a tablet or the like,and the request information contains user location informationindicating a current position of the user. Needless to say, the requestinformation may contain other information such as identity informationof the user.

The delivery control device receives the request information sent by theuser and thus may be informed of the current position of the user.

In the step S2, a delivery apparatus is selected for the user among atleast two types of delivery apparatuses, according to the user locationinformation.

Optionally, the delivery apparatuses include robots and UAVs. In thestep S2, the delivery control device determines whether a UAV or a robotis employed to deliver an article or service to the user according tothe received user location information.

In the step S3, the selected delivery apparatus is controlled to deliveran article and/or service to the user who sends the request information.

In the step S3, the UAV or robot selected in the step S2 is controlledto move to a position where the user who has sent the requestinformation is located or close to so as to provide self-service orarticle to the user.

It should be noted that the delivery apparatuses according to theembodiment are not limited to UAVs and robots, and they may be otherapparatuses with functions of delivery and dispatching.

In the delivery method according to the present disclosure, aself-service or an article is provided to a user by acquiring positioninformation of a user who needs the self-service or the article andselecting a corresponding delivery apparatus to move to the positionwhere the user is located or close to. The delivery method breaks therestriction in the prior art that the self-service apparatus is at afixed location that cannot be adjusted, so that the user canconveniently use self-service or required articles anywhere, therebyimproving the user experience.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. In the delivery method, the deliveryapparatuses include UAVs and robots. As illustrated in FIG. 2, thedelivery method includes step S1, steps S201 to S208, and steps S301 toS303.

In the step S1, request information sent by a user is acquired, whereinthe request information includes user location information whichindicates a current position of the user.

In the step S201, a first delivery type for the user is determinedaccording to the user location information, respective locationinformation of the robots in the idle state or the task execution state,and respective location information of the UAVs in the idle state.

Optionally, the first delivery type includes UAV delivery, provisionalrobot delivery or unable to deliver.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart specifically illustrating step S201 of thedelivery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, optionally, the step S201 includes steps S2011 toS2013.

In the step S2011, it is determined whether there is any robot in theidle state or the task execution state within a first area where theuser is located.

In one example, the first area is an area encircled by a circle, acircular center of which is the position of the user and a radius ofwhich is a first predetermined distance.

In practice, a robot can be taken into consideration for delivery inview of the costs of a robot and a UAV. The first predetermined distancein this example may be set according to the maximum distance for asingle movement of a robot. For example, if the maximum distance for asingle movement of a robot is 1 kilometer, the first predetermineddistance may be set to a value less than or equal to 1 kilometer.

In the step S2011, if it is determined that there is a robot in the idlestate or the task execution state within the first area where the useris located, it indicates that the robot is capable of moving to theposition where the user is located, and in this case, step S2012 isperformed; otherwise, it indicates that no robot can move to theposition where the user is located, and in this case, step S2013 isperformed.

In the step S2012, it is determined whether or not the user is locatedwithin a non-robot active region according to the user locationinformation.

Although there is a robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin the first area where the user is located, if the user is locatedwithin the non-robot active region which is a region where a robotcannot reach due to limitation of environment, topography and the likeand can be defined in advance, it indicates that a robot cannot beemployed for delivering.

In the present disclosure, it indicates that a robot can be employed fordelivering to a user when it is determined in the step S2012 that theuser is not within the non-robot active region, and in this case, thefirst delivery type for the user is determined to be provisional robotdelivery. When it is determined in the step S2012 that the user islocated with the non-robot active region, it indicates that UAV deliveryis required for the user or that it is unable to deliver for the user,and in this case, the step S2013 is performed.

In the step S2013, it is determined whether there is any UAV in the idlestate within a second area where the user is located.

In one example, the second area is an area encircled by a circle, acircular center of which is the position of the user and a radius ofwhich is a second predetermined distance.

The second predetermined distance in this example may be set accordingto the maximum distance for a single movement of a UAV. For example, ifthe maximum distance for a single movement of a UAV is 2 kilometers, thesecond predetermined distance may be set to a value less than or equalto 2 kilometers. In practice, the second predetermined distance istypically larger than the first predetermined distance. For example, avalue of the second predetermined distance may be 2 kilometers, and avalue of the first predetermined distance may be 1 kilometer.

If it is determined in the step S2013 that there is a UAV in the idlestate within the second area, it indicates that a UAV can be employedfor delivering to the user, and in this case, it is determined that thefirst delivery type for the user is UAV delivery; otherwise, it isdetermined that the first delivery type for the user is unable todeliver.

It should be noted that in a case where it is determined in the stepS201 that the first delivery type for the user is unable to deliver, thestep S202 is performed; in a case where it is determined in the stepS201 that the first delivery type for the user is UAV delivery, the stepS203 is performed; and in a case where it is determined in the step S201that the first delivery type for the user is provisional robot delivery,the step S204 is performed.

In the step S202, information for indicating a delivery request beingfailed is returned to the user.

When there is no robot or UAV available to deliver for the user, theinformation for indicating a delivery request being failed is returnedto the user. The user may try to send request information again after aperiod of time or after changing the user's own position.

In the step S203, the delivery apparatus corresponding to the user is aUAV, an identifier (for example, a serial number of the UAV) of a UAV inthe idle state and closest to the user is determined, and a state of theUAV having the determined identifier is switched to the task executionstate.

In the step S203, it is determined for a user whose first delivery typeis UAV delivery that the delivery apparatus corresponding to the user isa UAV. In this case, distances from the user to respective UAVs in theidle state may be calculated, and an identifier of a UAV having theminimum distance is determined and, at the same time, a state of the UAVhaving the determined identifier is switched to the task executionstate.

In the step S204, the user location information for all users for whichthe first delivery type is determined to be provisional robot deliverywithin a first period of time (e.g., a predetermined period of time),and clustering process is performed on the acquired user locationinformation to obtain one or more first cluster area(s) and locationinformation of respective first cluster center(s) of the one or morefirst cluster area(s).

In the present disclosure, the delivery is conducted in a centralizedmanner for the user whose first delivery type is provisional robotdelivery. Specifically, the user location information for all userswhose first delivery type is determined to be provisional robot deliverywithin a first period of time (e.g., one minute) is acquired, and theclustering process is performed on all acquired user locationinformation by using clustering algorithm to obtain one or more firstcluster areas and location information of respective first clustercenters of the one or more first cluster areas.

It should be noted that the clustering algorithm used in the process ofclustering the user location information in the present disclosure maybe any clustering algorithm in the prior art, and the specific processof clustering multiple coordinates (user location information) by usingclustering algorithm is not described in detail here. In the presentdisclosure, location information of one or more first cluster areas andrespective cluster center(s) of the one or more first cluster areas maybe obtained by the clustering process.

During subsequent allocation of delivery tasks, the delivery may beconducted in units of the first cluster area (each including one or moreusers). For example, the delivery is conducted to the first clustercenter of each first cluster area.

In the step S205, a second delivery type for each first cluster centeris determined according to the location information of the first clustercenter and the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center.

In the step S205, it may be determined for each first cluster centerwhether the second delivery type of the first cluster center is UAVdelivery or robot delivery, according to the location information of thefirst cluster center and the number of users within the first clusterarea corresponding to the first cluster center.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart specifically illustrating step S205 of thedelivery method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, optionally, the step S205 includes steps S2051and S2052.

In the step S2051, it is determined for each first cluster centerwhether or not the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center is less than a thresholdnumber of users.

For the first cluster area with a relatively large number of users, arobot with a relatively large article carrying capacity must be used fordelivery. For the first cluster area with a relatively small number ofusers, not only a robot but also a UAV may be used for delivery.

In the present disclosure, the threshold number of users may be setdepending on actual situation.

In the step S2051, if it is determined that the number of users withinthe first cluster area is larger than or equal to the threshold numberof users, it indicates that the first cluster area has a relativelylarge number of users therein, and in this case, it may be determinedthat the first cluster center for the first cluster area has the seconddelivery type of robot delivery. If it is determined that the number ofusers within the first cluster area is less than the threshold number ofusers, the step S2052 is performed.

In the step S2052, it is determined for each first cluster centerwhether there is any robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin a third area in which the first cluster center is located.

In one example, the third area is an area encircled by a circle, acircular center of which is the first cluster center and a radius ofwhich is a third predetermined distance. In practice, the thirdpredetermined distance is typically a relatively small value that isless than a half of the first predetermined distance, e.g., 200 meters.

In the step S2052, if it is determined that there is a robot in the idlestate or the task execution state within the third area where the firstcluster center is located, it indicates that there is a robot close tothe first cluster center and capable of executing delivery task, and inthis case, the second delivery type for the first cluster center isdetermined to be robot delivery. If it is determined that there is norobot in the idle state or the task execution state within the thirdarea where the first cluster center is located, the second delivery typefor the first cluster center is determined to be UAV delivery.

It should be noted that, when it is determined that there is no robot inthe idle state or in the task execution state within the third areawhere the first cluster center is located, it is theoretically possibleto use not only UAV delivery but also robot delivery for the firstcluster center. However, in this embodiment, the delivery is conductedby using a UAV in view of the rapid delivery characteristic of UAVs.

Therefore, the delivery time can be reduced, thereby effectivelyenhancing user experience.

When it is determined in the step S205 that the second delivery type forthe first cluster center is UAV delivery, the step S206 is performed.When it is determined in the step S207 that the second delivery type forthe first cluster center is robot delivery, the step S207 is performed.

In the step S206, an identifier of a UAV in the idle state and closestto the first cluster center is determined, and a state of the UAV havingthe determined identifier is switched to the task execution state.

For the first cluster center with the second delivery type of UAVdelivery, it is determined that the delivery apparatus for the firstcluster center is a UAV. In this case, distances from the first clustercenter to respective UAVs in the idle state may be calculated, and anidentifier of a UAV with the minimum distance value may be determined,and at the same time, a state of the UAV having the determinedidentifier is switched to the task execution state.

It can be seen from the above that, in the present disclosure, theactual delivery apparatus corresponding to users whose first deliverytype is provisional robot delivery may be a UAV.

In the step S207, delivery costs of robots in the idle state and robotsin the task execution state are calculated for each first clustercenter, the delivery cost for a first cluster center being associatedwith a distance from a robot to the first cluster center.

In one example, the delivery cost of a robot in the idle state for afirst cluster center is equal to a distance from the robot to the firstcluster center.

In one example, when a robot is in the task execution state, a directionfrom the robot towards a target position for a task being executed is afirst direction, and a direction from the robot towards the firstcluster center is a second direction. In a case where an angle betweenthe first direction and the second direction is less than or equal to anangle threshold, the delivery cost of the robot for a first clustercenter is equal to a distance from the robot to the first clustercenter. In a case where the angle between the first direction and thesecond direction is larger than the angle threshold, the delivery costof the robot for a first cluster center is equal to a sum of a distancefrom the robot to the target position and a distance from the targetposition to the first cluster center.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a calculation of a deliverycost in one example. As illustrated in FIG. 5, it is assumed that afirst cluster center C1 represents a cluster center having a robot asits delivery apparatus, robots R1 and R2 represent robots in the idlestate, respectively, a robot R3 represents a robot in the task executionstate, and P1 indicates a target position for a task currently beingexecuted by the robot R3.

It is assumed that a distance from the robot R1 to the first clustercenter C1 is a1, a distance from the robot R2 to the first clustercenter C1 is a2, a distance from the robot R3 to the first clustercenter C1 is a3, a distance from the robot R3 to the target position P1is a4, a distance from the first cluster center C1 to the targetposition P1 is a5, a direction from the robot R3 towards the targetposition P1 is the first direction F1, a direction from the robot R3towards the first cluster center C1 is the second direction F2, and anangle between the first direction and the second direction is 0.

In this case, the delivery cost of the robot R1 is equal to the distancea1, and the delivery of the robot R2 for the first cluster center C1 isequal to the distance a2.

For the robot R3, if the angle θ is less than or equal to an anglethreshold, it indicates that the robot R3, the first cluster center C1and the target position P1 are approximately on one straight line. Inthis case, the robot R3 may complete incidentally the delivery to thefirst cluster center C1 even in the task execution state, and thedelivery cost of the robot R3 is equal to the distance a3. It should benoted that, if the robot R3 is used to deliver for the first clustercenter C1 in a subsequent process, in a case where the distance a3 isless than the distance a4, the robot R3 may execute the delivery to thefirst cluster center C1 first and then to the target position P1. In acase where the distance a3 is larger than or equal to the distance a4,the robot R3 may execute the delivery to the target position P1 firstand then to the first cluster center C1.

If the angle θ is larger than the angle threshold, the robot R3 needs tocomplete the task of delivering for the target position P1 and thenexecute the task of delivering for the first cluster center C1. In thiscase, the delivery cost of the robot R3 is equal to a sum of thedistance a4 and the distance a5.

It should be noted that, the angle threshold in the present disclosuremay be set depending on actual situation.

In the step S208, an identifier of a robot having the lowest deliverycost is determined, and a state of the robot having the determinedidentifier is switched to the task execution state.

Taking the case shown in FIG. 5 as an example, in a case where the angleθ is less than or equal to the angle threshold, it needs in the stepS208 to compare values of the distance a1, the distance a2 and thedistance a3, and select an identifier of a robot corresponding to theminimum distance value. In a case where the angle θ is larger than theangle threshold, it needs in the step S208 to compare values of thedistance a1, the distance a2 and the sum of the distances a4 and a5, andselect an identifier of a robot corresponding to the minimum distancevalue.

Upon an identifier of the robot with the lowest delivery cost isdetermined, the state of the robot having the identifier is switched tothe task execution state. It should be noted that, if the robot with thelowest delivery cost determined in the step S208 is in the taskexecution state, the task execution state of the robot may be maintainedand a new task may be assigned to the robot.

It should be noted that when robots or UAVs are continuously assigned toeach first cluster center, there may be a problem that the robots andthe UAVs are insufficient. In this case, request information for allusers within the first cluster areas that respectively correspond to theunassigned first cluster centers may be stored, and may be included intothe user location information for all users whose first delivery type tobe acquired in the next first period of time is provisional robotdelivery, so as to be further processed.

The method proceeds to the step S3 when any one of the step S203, stepS206 and step S208 is completed.

Specifically, the subsequent step S3 after the step S203 is completedincludes step S301 in which a UAV with the determined identifier iscontrolled to delivery an article and/or service to a correspondinguser.

The delivery control device controls the UAV with the determinedidentifier to move to the user's location to provide self-service or anarticle to the user. After the user finishes self-service or gets thearticle, a state of the UAV is automatically switched to the taskcompletion state and the UAV flies back to a corresponding parkingapron.

Specifically, the subsequent step S3 after the step S206 is completedincludes step S302 in which a UAV with the determined identifier iscontrolled to delivery an article and/or service to a correspondingfirst cluster center.

The delivery control device controls the UAV with the determinedidentifier to move to the first cluster center, and sends information,which is for reminding all users in the first cluster area correspondingto the first cluster center to go to the first cluster center, to theusers when the UAV is arriving or has arrived at the first clustercenter, so as to provide self-service or an article to all the users inthe first cluster area. After the self-service or article has beenprovided to all the users in the first cluster area, a state of the UAVis automatically switched to the task completion state and the UAV fliesback to a corresponding parking apron.

It should be noted that, in one example, the UAV is not limited tomoving to the first cluster center, but may also move to each user inthe first cluster area to deliver the service or article for each userseparately.

Specifically, the subsequent step S3 after the step S208 is completedincludes step S303, in which a robot with the determined identifier iscontrolled to delivery an article to the first cluster center.

The delivery control device controls the robot with the determinedidentifier to move to the first cluster center, and sends information,which is for reminding all users in the first cluster area correspondingto the first cluster center to go to the first cluster center, to theusers when the robot is arriving or has arrived at the first clustercenter, so as to provide self-service or an article to all the users inthe first cluster area. After the self-service or article has beenprovided to all the users in the first cluster area, a state of therobot is automatically switched to the task completion state and waitsfor a next instruction from the delivery control device. In a case wherethe robot has other task(s) to be executed, the delivery control devicecontrols the robot to switch its own state to the task execution stateagain and to move to a target position for the next task. In a casewhere the robot has no task to be executed, the delivery control devicecontrols the robot to switch its own state to the idle state andmaintain the idle state.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a delivery method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, in addition to thesteps S1 to S3 in the above example, the delivery method furtherincludes steps S4 to S11 after the step S3. Only the steps S4 to S11will be described below.

In the step S4, location information for all persons within a firstregion (e.g., a predetermined area) is acquired, and a clusteringprocess is performed on the acquired location information for allpersons within the first region to obtain one or more second clusterareas and location information of respective second cluster centers ofthe one or more second cluster areas, all second cluster centersconstituting a first set and all robots in the idle state constituting asecond set.

Persons within the first region are divided into two types: users andnon-users. In one example, in the step S4, the location information ofall the persons in the first region may be obtained by collecting mobilenetwork signals for mobile phones of the users and non-users in thefirst region and using the mobile network signals to locate the locationof the mobile phone (and the person holding the mobile phone). It shouldbe noted that, the technical means for locating by using a mobilenetwork signal is a common technical means in the art, and a specificprocess thereof is not described in detail herein.

After the location information of all the persons within the firstregion is acquired, the acquired location information of all personswithin the first region is clustered by using a clustering algorithm toobtain one or more second cluster areas and location information ofrespective second cluster centers of the one or more second clusterarea(s). In this example, the clustering process is performed on thelocation information of all the users within the first region, and aresult thereof can effectively reflect the population densitydistribution in the first region to provide reference for the subsequentoptimizing distribution adjustment.

To facility the subsequent process of optimizing distribution, all thesecond cluster centers constitute a first set and all robots in the idlestate constitute a second set.

In the step S5, distances from the second cluster center to respectiverobots in the idle state in the second set are calculated for eachsecond cluster center in the first set.

In the step S6, the minimum distance is selected among the calculateddistances, and the second cluster center and the robot by which theminimum distance is calculated are determined.

In the step S7, the robot determined in the step S6 is controlled tomove towards the second cluster center determined in the step S6, and astate of the robot determined in the step S6 is switched from the idlestate to an optimizing distribution state.

In each adjustment, the robot in the idle state with the minimumadjustment cost (namely, moving distance) is selected to go to acorresponding second cluster center.

In the step S8, the second cluster center determined in the step S6 isremoved from the first set, and the robot determined in the step S6 isremoved from the second set.

In the step S9, it is determined whether or not each of the first setand the second set is an empty set.

In a case where none of the first set and the second set is determinedto be an empty set in the step S9, the method returns to the step S5 toproceed with the optimizing distribution adjustment. In a case where atleast one of the first set and the second set is determined to be anempty set in the step S9, the optimizing distribution adjustment ends,and states of respective robots in the optimizing distribution state areswitched to the idle state.

In the present disclosure, a robot in the idle state can automaticallyadjust its own position according to the current population densitydistribution, such that the probability that the delivery can beconducted by a robot in the idle state is increased in the subsequentassignment of tasks, and the delivery distance of the robot is shortenedeffectively, which can shorten the delivery time and thereby effectivelyimprove the user experience.

In the step S10, it is determined whether or not a battery power of eachof the robots in the idle state is less than a battery power threshold.

In a case where the battery power of a robot is determined to be lessthan the battery power threshold, the step S11 is performed; otherwise,it indicates that the battery power is normal.

It should be noted that, the battery power threshold may be setdepending on actual needs.

In the step S11, the robot of which the battery power is less than thebattery power threshold is controlled to move to a charging station tocharge itself, and a state of the robot is switched to the chargingstate.

In one example, the population density may be surveyed in advance and anarea with more concentrated population density may be analyzed, and thena charging station may be built in the area for the charging of a robot.Needless to say, a position of a charging station may be set accordingto other needs.

In a case where the battery power of a certain robot is determined inthe step S10 to be less than the battery power threshold, the deliverycontrol device controls the robot to move to the charging station withavailable charging pile and closest to the robot to charge itself, andswitch a state of the robot to the charging state. When the robotcompletes charging, the state of the robot will be switched to the idlestate again.

It should be noted that the order of the steps S10 and S4 is notlimited, and the step S10 may also be performed before the step S4 orsimultaneously with the step S4. It should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the only requirement of the order is that, boththe steps S4 and S10 should be performed after step S3, the steps S5 toS9 should be performed after the step S4, and the step S11 should beperformed after the step S10, and specific combination thereof is nolonger listed herein.

In addition, the step S2 may be replaced with the steps S201 to S208described with reference to FIG. 2, and the step S3 may be replaced withthe steps S301 to S303 described with reference to FIG. 2.

The delivery method according to the present disclosure not onlyprovides users with self-service or articles anytime and anywhere, butalso effectively improves the user experience by optimizing thedistribution. Further, providing the charging station may effectivelykeep the robot operating automatically and continuously.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a deliverycontrol device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, the delivery control device is configured tocarry out the above delivery method, and includes a user locationinformation acquisition module 1, a delivery apparatus selection module2 and a delivery apparatus control module 3.

The user location information acquisition module 1 is configured toacquire request information sent by a user, the request informationincluding user location information which indicates a current positionof the user.

The delivery apparatus selection module 2 is configured to select adelivery apparatus for the user among at least two types of deliveryapparatuses according to the user location information.

The delivery apparatus control module 3 is configured to control theselected delivery apparatus to deliver an article and/or service to theuser.

The user location information acquisition module 1 may be configured toperform the step S1 of the delivery method described above, the deliveryapparatus selection module 2 may be configured to perform the step S2 ofthe delivery method described above, and the delivery apparatus controlmodule 3 may be configured to perform the step S3 of the delivery methoddescribed above. Detailed description of the functions of the threemodules may refer to the above description for the steps S1 to S3 in theabove delivery method, and will be omitted here.

Optionally, the at least two types of delivery apparatuses includerobots and UAVs.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of the deliveryapparatus selection module 2 shown in FIG. 7. As illustrated in FIG. 8,optionally, the delivery apparatus selection module 2 includes a firstdelivery type determination unit 201, an information feedback unit 202,and a first UAV management unit 203.

The first delivery type determination unit 201 is configured todetermine whether a first delivery type for the user is UAV delivery,provisional robot delivery or unable to deliver according to the userlocation information, respective location information of the robots inthe idle state or the task execution state, and respective locationinformation of the UAVs in the idle state.

The information feedback unit 202 is configured to return informationfor indicating a delivery request being failed to the user in a casewhere the first delivery type is determined to be unable to deliver.

The first UAV management unit 203 is configured to determine anidentifier of a UAV in the idle state and closest to the user, andswitch a state of the UAV having the determined identifier to the taskexecution state, in a case where the first delivery type determinationunit 201 determines the first delivery type to be UAV delivery.

Specifically, the delivery apparatus control module 3 is configured tocontrol the UAV having the determined identifier to deliver an articleto the user when the first UAV management unit 203 has switched a stateof the UAV having the determined identifier to the task execution state.

The first delivery type determination unit 201 may be configured toperform the step S201 of the delivery method described above, theinformation feedback unit 202 may be configured to perform the step S202of the delivery method described above, and the first UAV managementunit 203 may be configured to perform the step S203 of the deliverymethod described above. Detailed description of the functions of thethree units may refer to the above description for the steps S201 toS203 in the above delivery method, and will be omitted here.

In one example, the first delivery type determination unit 201 includesa first area determination subunit 2011, a non-robot active regiondetermination subunit 2012, a second area determination subunit 2013,and a first delivery type determination subunit 2014.

The first area determination subunit 2011 is configured to determinewhether there is any robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin a first area where the user is located. In one example, the firstarea is an area encircled by a circle, a circular center of which is theposition of the user and a radius of which is a first predetermineddistance.

The non-robot active region determination subunit 2012 is configured todetermine whether or not the user is located within a non-robot activeregion according to the user location information, in a case where it isdetermined by the first area determination subunit 2011 that there is arobot in the idle state or the task execution state within the firstarea.

The second area determination subunit 2013 is configured to determinewhether there is any UAV in the idle state within a second area wherethe user is located, in a case where the first area determinationsubunit 2011 determines that there is no robot in the idle state or thetask execution state within the first area and in a case where thenon-robot active region determination subunit 2012 determines that theuser is located within the non-robot active region. In one example, thesecond area is an area encircled by a circle, a circular center of whichis the position of the user and a radius of which is a secondpredetermined distance.

The first delivery type determination subunit 2014 is configured todetermine the first delivery type for the user to be provisional robotdelivery in a case where the non-robot active region determinationsubunit 2012 determines that the user is not located within thenon-robot active region, determine the first delivery type for the userto be UAV delivery in a case where the second area determination subunit2013 determines that there is a UAV in the idle state within the secondarea, and determine the first delivery type for the user to be unable todeliver in a case where the second area determination subunit 2013determines that there is no UAV in the idle state within the secondarea.

It should be noted that the first area determination subunit 2011 may beconfigured to perform the step S2011 of the delivery method describedabove, the non-robot active region determination subunit 2012 may beconfigured to perform the step S2012 of the delivery method describedabove, and the second area determination subunit 2013 may be configuredto perform the step S2013 of the delivery method described above.Detailed description of the functions of the three subunits may refer tothe above description for the steps S2011 to S2013 in the above deliverymethod, and will be omitted here.

Optionally, the delivery apparatus selection module 2 further includes afirst clustering unit 204, a second delivery type determination unit205, a second UAV management unit 206, and a robot management unit 207.

The first clustering unit 204 is configured to acquire the user locationinformation for all users for which the first delivery type isdetermined to be provisional robot delivery within a first period oftime, and perform a clustering process on the acquired user locationinformation to obtain one or more first cluster area(s) and locationinformation of respective first cluster center(s) of the one or morefirst cluster area(s).

The second delivery type determination unit 205 is configured todetermine for each first cluster center whether a second delivery typefor the first cluster center is UAV delivery or robot delivery accordingto the location information of the first cluster center and the numberof users within the first cluster area corresponding to the firstcluster center.

The second UAV management unit 206 is configured to determine, for eachfirst cluster center, an identifier of a UAV in the idle state andclosest to the first cluster center when the second delivery typedetermination unit 205 determines the second delivery type for the firstcluster center to be UAV delivery, and switch a state of the UAV havingthe determined identifier to the task execution state.

The robot management unit 207 is configured to calculate, for each firstcluster center, delivery costs of robots in the idle state and robots inthe task execution state when the second delivery type determinationunit 205 determines the second delivery type for the first clustercenter to be robot delivery, determine an identifier of a robot havingthe lowest delivery cost, and switch a state of the robot having thedetermined identifier to the task execution state. The delivery cost fora first cluster center is associated with a distance from a robot to thefirst cluster center. In a case where a robot is in the idle state, thedelivery cost of the robot for a first cluster center is equal to adistance from the robot to the first cluster center. In a case where therobot is in the task execution state, a direction from the robot towardsa target position for a task being executed by the robot is a firstdirection, and a direction from the robot towards the first clustercenter is a second direction. In a case where an angle between the firstdirection and the second direction is less than or equal to an anglethreshold, the delivery cost of the robot for a first cluster center isequal to a distance from the robot to the first cluster center. In acase where the angle between the first direction and the seconddirection is larger than the angle threshold, the delivery cost of therobot for a first cluster center is equal to a sum of a distance fromthe robot to the target position of the task being executed by the robotand a distance from the target position to the first cluster center.

Specifically, the delivery apparatus control module 3 is configured tocontrol the UAV having the determined identifier to deliver an articleto the first cluster center when the second UAV management unit 206 hasswitched a state of the UAV having the determined identifier to the taskexecution state.

Specifically, the delivery apparatus control module 3 is configured tocontrol the robot having the determined identifier to deliver an articleto the first cluster center when the robot management unit 207 hasswitched a state of the robot having the determined identifier to thetask execution state.

It should be noted that the first clustering unit 204 may be configuredto perform the step S204 of the delivery method described above, thesecond delivery type determination unit 205 may be configured to performthe step S205 of the delivery method described above, the second UAVmanagement unit 206 may be configured to perform the step S206 of thedelivery method described above, and the robot management unit 207 maybe configured to perform the steps S207 and S208 of the delivery methoddescribed above. Detailed description of the functions of the four unitsmay refer to the above description for the steps S205 to S208 in theabove delivery method, and will be omitted here.

Optionally, the second delivery type determination unit 205 includes auser number determination subunit 2051, a third area determinationsubunit 2052, and a second delivery type determination subunit 2053.

The user number determination subunit 2051 is configured to determinefor each first cluster center whether or not the number of users withinthe first cluster area corresponding to the first cluster center is lessthan a threshold number of users.

The third area determination subunit 2052 is configured to determinewhether there is any robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin a third area in which the first cluster center is located, in acase where the user number determination subunit 2051 determines thatthe number of users is less than the threshold number of users. In oneexample, the third area is an area encircled by a circle, a circularcenter of which is the first cluster center and a radius of which is athird predetermined distance.

The second delivery type determination subunit 2053 is configured todetermine the second delivery type for the first cluster center to berobot delivery in a case where the user number determination subunit2051 determines that the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center is larger than or equal to thethreshold number of users, determine the second delivery type for thefirst cluster center to be robot delivery in a case where the third areadetermination subunit 2052 determines that there is a robot in the idlestate or the task execution state within the third area, and determinethe second delivery type for the first cluster center to be UAV deliveryin a case where the third area determination subunit 2052 determinesthat there is no robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin the third area.

It should be noted that the user number determination subunit 2051 maybe configured to perform the step S2051 of the delivery method describedabove, and the third area determination subunit 2052 may be configuredto perform the step S2052 of the delivery method described above.Detailed description of the functions of the two subunits may refer tothe above description for the steps S2051 and S2052 in the abovedelivery method, and will be omitted here.

In one example, the delivery control device further includes a personlocation information processing module 4, a distance calculation module5, a minimum distance value determination module 6, an optimizationdistribution control module 7, a data removing module 8, and a setjudgment module 9.

The person location information processing module 4 is configured toacquire location information for all persons within a first region, andperform a clustering process on the acquired location information forall the persons within the first region to obtain one or more secondcluster area(s) and location information of respective second clustercenter(s) of the one or more second cluster area(s), all second clustercenter(s) constituting a first set and all robots in the idle stateconstituting a second set.

The distance calculation module 5 is configured to calculate, for eachsecond cluster center in the first set, distances from the secondcluster center to respective robots in the idle state in the second set.

The minimum distance value determination module 6 is configured toselect the minimum distance among the distances calculated by thedistance calculation module 5, and determine the second cluster centerand the robot by which the minimum distance is calculated.

The optimization distribution control module 7 is configured to controlthe robot corresponding to the minimum distance to move towards thesecond cluster center corresponding to the minimum distance, and switcha state of the robot corresponding to the minimum distance from the idlestate to an optimizing distribution state.

The data removing module 8 is configured to remove the second clustercenter corresponding to the minimum distance from the first set, andremove the robot corresponding to the minimum distance from the secondset.

The set judgment module 9 is configured to determine whether or not eachof the first set and the second set is an empty set, and control thedistance calculation module 5 to perform calculation again in a casewhere none of the first set and the second set is determined to be anempty set.

It should be noted that the person location information processingmodule 4 may be configured to perform the step S4 of the delivery methoddescribed above, the distance calculation module 5 may be configured toperform the step S5 of the delivery method described above, the minimumdistance value determination module 6 may be configured to perform thestep S6 of the delivery method described above, the optimizationdistribution control module 7 may be configured to perform the step S7of the delivery method described above, the data removing module 8 maybe configured to perform the step S8 of the delivery method describedabove, and the set judgment module 9 may be configured to perform thestep S9 of the delivery method described above. Detailed description ofthe functions of the six modules may refer to the above description forthe steps S4 to S9 in the above delivery method, and will be omittedhere.

In one example, the delivery control device further includes a batterypower determination module 10 and a charging control module 11.

The battery power determination module 10 is configured to determinewhether or not a battery power of each of the robots in the idle stateis less than a battery power threshold.

The charging control module 11 is configured to control the robot ofwhich the battery power is less than the battery power threshold to moveto a predetermined charging station to charge itself in a case where thebattery power determination module 10 determines that the battery powerof the robot is less than the battery power threshold, and switch astate of the robot of which the battery power is less than the batterypower threshold to the charging state.

It should be noted that the battery power determination module 10 may beconfigured to perform the step S10 of the delivery method describedabove, and the charging control module 11 may be configured to performthe step S11 of the delivery method described above. Detaileddescription of the functions of the two modules may refer to the abovedescription for the steps S10 and S11 in the above delivery method, andwill be omitted here.

In addition, the delivery apparatus control module 3 may be furtherconfigured to perform the steps S301 to S303 in the above deliverymethod, and detailed description thereof may refer to the abovedescription.

The delivery control device according to the present disclosure not onlyprovides users with self-service or articles anytime and anywhere, butalso effectively improves the user experience by optimizing thedistribution. Further, providing the charging station may effectivelykeep the robot operating automatically and continuously.

It should be noted that the delivery control device may be implementedas a storage device and one or more processor(s) coupled with eachother, wherein the storage device stores computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processor(s) to perform the steps of the delivery methodaccording to the present disclosure. For example, thecomputer-executable instructions may cause the one or more processor(s)to realize functions of one or more of the user location informationacquisition module 1, the delivery apparatus selection module 2, thedelivery apparatus control module 3, the person location informationprocessing module 4, the distance calculation module 5, the minimumdistance value determination module 6, the optimization distributioncontrol module 7, the data removing module 8, and a set judgment module9. The functions of the modules implemented by the computer-executableinstructions may be combined arbitrarily as long as they are notmutually exclusive or contradictory.

Examples of an appropriate storage device include, but are not limitedto, a magnetic disk or a tape, an optical storage medium such as compactdisks (CDs) or DVDs (digital versatile disks), a flash memory, and anyother non-transitory storage medium. Optionally, the storage device is anon-transitory memory.

Needless to say, the delivery control device according to the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and may be implemented in other formof a combination of software and hardware.

In another aspect, the present disclosure may further provide a deliverysystem including the above-described delivery control device, deliveryapparatuses such as a UAV and a robot, a portable terminal for sendingrequest information and the like which communicate with each other via acommunication network such as the Internet or a wireless network.

In the delivery method and the delivery control device according to thepresent disclosure, a self-service or an article is provided to a userby acquiring position information of a user who needs the self-serviceor the article and selecting a corresponding UAV or robot to move to theposition where the user is located or close to. The delivery methodbreaks the restriction in the prior art that the self-service apparatusis at a fixed location that cannot be adjusted, so that the user canconveniently use self-service or required articles anywhere, therebyimproving the user experience.

It can be understood that the foregoing implementations are merelyexemplary implementations used for describing the principle of thepresent disclosure, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.Those ordinary skilled in the art may make various variations andimprovements without departing from the spirit and essence of thepresent disclosure, and these variations and improvements shall fallinto the protection scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A delivery method, comprising: step S1: acquiringrequest information sent by a user, the request information comprisinguser location information which indicates a current position of theuser; step S2: selecting, according to the user location information, adelivery apparatus for the user among at least two types of deliveryapparatuses; and step S3: controlling the selected delivery apparatus todeliver at least one of an article and service to the user.
 2. Thedelivery method according to claim 1, wherein the at least two types ofdelivery apparatuses comprise robots and unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs), and the step S2 comprises: determining whether a delivery typefor the user is UAV delivery, robot delivery or unable to deliveraccording to the user location information, a location and a state of arobot, and a location and a state of a UAV, and determining anidentifier of a delivery apparatus for delivering at least one of anarticle and service to the user among the delivery apparatuses.
 3. Thedelivery method according to claim 2, wherein the state of a robotcomprises an idle state, a task execution state and other state, thestate of a UAV comprises an idle state and a task execution state, andthe step S2 comprises: step S201: determining whether a first deliverytype for the user is UAV delivery, provisional robot delivery or unableto deliver according to the user location information, respectivelocation information of robots in the idle state or the task executionstate, and respective location information of UAVs in the idle state; ina case where the first delivery type for the user is determined to beunable to deliver, performing step S202, and in a case where the firstdelivery type for the user is determined to be UAV delivery, performingstep S203; step S202: returning information for indicating a deliveryrequest being failed to the user; and step S203: determining anidentifier of a UAV in the idle state and closest to the user, andswitching a state of the UAV having the determined identifier to thetask execution state.
 4. The delivery method according to claim 3,wherein the step S201 comprises: step S2011: determining whether thereis any robot in the idle state or the task execution state within afirst area where the user is located; in a case where it is determinedthat there is a robot in the idle state or the task execution statewithin the first area, performing step S2012, and in a case where it isdetermined that there is no robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within the first area, performing step S2013; stepS2012: determining whether or not the user is located within a non-robotactive region according to the user location information; in a casewhere it is determined that the user is located within the non-robotactive region, performing step S2013, and in a case where it isdetermined that the user is not located within the non-robot activeregion, determining the first delivery type for the user to beprovisional robot delivery; and step S2013: determining whether there isany UAV in the idle state within a second area where the user islocated; in a case where it is determined that there is a UAV in theidle state within the second area, determining the first delivery typefor the user to be UAV delivery, and in a case where it is determinedthat there is no UAV in the idle state within the second area,determining the first delivery type for the user to be unable todeliver.
 5. The delivery method according to claim 3, wherein in a casewhere the first delivery type is determined in the step S201 to beprovisional robot delivery, the step S2 further comprises: step S204:acquiring the user location information for all users for which thefirst delivery type is determined within a first period of time to beprovisional robot delivery, and performing a clustering process on theacquired user location information to obtain one or more first clusterareas and location information of respective first cluster centers ofthe one or more first cluster areas; step S205: determining, for each ofthe first cluster centers, whether a second delivery type for the firstcluster center is UAV delivery or robot delivery according to thelocation information of the first cluster center and the number of userswithin the first cluster area corresponding to the first cluster center;in a case where the second delivery type for the first cluster center isdetermined to be UAV delivery, performing step S206, and in a case wherethe second delivery type for the first cluster center is determined tobe robot delivery, performing step S207; step S206: determining anidentifier of a UAV in the idle state and closest to the first clustercenter, and switching a state of the UAV having the determinedidentifier to the task execution state; step S207: calculating deliverycosts of robots in the idle state and robots in the task execution statefor the first cluster center, the delivery cost for a first clustercenter being associated with a distance from a robot to the firstcluster center; and step S208: determining an identifier of a robothaving the lowest delivery cost according to the delivery costs forrespective robots calculated in the step S207, and switching a state ofthe robot having the determined identifier to the task execution state.6. The delivery method according to claim 5, wherein the delivery costof a robot in the idle state for a first cluster center is equal to adistance from the robot to the first cluster center; and in a case wherean angle between a first direction from a robot in the task executionstate towards a target position for a task being executed by the robotand a second direction from the robot in the task execution statetowards the first cluster center is less than or equal to an anglethreshold, the delivery cost of the robot in the task execution statefor a first cluster center is equal to a distance from the robot in thetask execution state to the first cluster center, in a case where theangle between the first direction and the second direction is largerthan the angle threshold, the delivery cost of the robot in the taskexecution state for a first cluster center is equal to a sum of adistance from the robot in the task execution state to the targetposition and a distance from the target position to the first clustercenter.
 7. The delivery method according to claim 5, wherein the step S3comprises: step S301: in a case where the first delivery type isdetermined in the step S201 to be UAV delivery and the identifier of theUAV in the idle state and closest to the user has been determined in thestep S203, controlling the UAV having the determined identifier todeliver at least one of an article and service to the user; step S302:in a case where the second delivery type is determined in the step S205to be UAV delivery and the identifier of the UAV in the idle state andclosest to the first cluster center has been determined in the stepS206, controlling the UAV having the determined identifier to deliver atleast one of an article and service to the first cluster center; andstep S303: in a case where the second delivery type is determined in thestep S205 to be robot delivery and the identifier of the robot havingthe lowest delivery cost has been determined in the step S208,controlling the robot having the determined identifier to deliver atleast one of an article and service to the first cluster centercorresponding to the robot having the determined identifier.
 8. Thedelivery method according to claim 5, wherein the step S205 comprises:step S2051: determining, for each of the first cluster centers, whetheror not the number of users within the first cluster area correspondingto the first cluster center is less than a threshold number of users; ina case where the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center is determined to be less thanthe threshold number of users, performing step S2052, and in a casewhere the number of users within the first cluster area corresponding tothe first cluster center is determined to be larger than or equal to thethreshold number of users, determining the second delivery type to berobot delivery; and step S2052: determining whether there is any robotin the idle state or the task execution state within a third area inwhich the first cluster center is located; in a case where it isdetermined that there is a robot in the idle state or the task executionstate within the third area, determining the second delivery type forthe first cluster center to be robot delivery, and in a case where it isdetermined that there is no robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within the third area, determining the second deliverytype for the first cluster center to be UAV delivery.
 9. The deliverymethod according to claim 1, wherein the at least two types of deliveryapparatuses comprise robots and UAVs, and the delivery method furthercomprises, subsequent to the step S3: step S4: acquiring locationinformation for all persons within a first region, and performing aclustering process on the acquired location information to obtain one ormore second cluster areas and location information of respective secondcluster centers of the one or more second cluster areas, all secondcluster centers constituting a first set and all robots in an idle stateconstituting a second set; step S5: calculating, for each second clustercenter in the first set, distances from the second cluster center torespective robots in the idle state in the second set; step S6:selecting the minimum distance among the distances calculated in thestep S5, and determining the second cluster center and the robot bywhich the minimum distance is calculated; step S7: controlling the robotdetermined in the step S6 to move towards the second cluster centerdetermined in the step S6, and switching a state of the robot determinedin the step S6 from the idle state to an optimizing distribution state;step S8: removing the second cluster center determined in the step S6from the first set, and removing the robot determined in the step S6from the second set; and step S9: determining whether or not each of thefirst set and the second set is an empty set, and in a case where noneof the first set and the second set is an empty set, returning to thestep S5.
 10. The delivery method according to claim 1, wherein the atleast two types of delivery apparatuses comprise robots and UAVs, andthe delivery method further comprises: step S10: determining whether ornot a battery power of each of the robots in the idle state is less thana battery power threshold, and in a case where it is determined that thebattery power of a robot in the idle state is determined to be less thanthe battery power threshold, performing step S11; step S11: controllingthe robot of which the battery power is less than the battery powerthreshold to move to a charging station to charge itself, and switchinga state of the robot of which the battery power is less than the batterypower threshold to a charging state.
 11. The delivery method accordingto claim 4, wherein the first area is an area encircled by a circle, acircular center of which is a position of the user and a radius of whichis a first distance; and the second area is an area encircled by acircle, a circular center of which is a position of the user and aradius of which is a second distance.
 12. The delivery method accordingto claim 8, wherein the third area is an area encircled by a circle, acircular center of which is a position of the first cluster center and aradius of which is a third distance.
 13. A delivery control device,comprising: a storage device; and one or more processor coupled to thestorage device, wherein the storage device is configured to storecomputer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations of:acquiring request information sent by a user, the request informationcomprising user location information which indicates a current positionof the user, selecting, according to the user location information, adelivery apparatus for the user among at least two types of deliveryapparatuses, and controlling the selected delivery apparatus to deliverat least one of an article and service to the user, and wherein the atleast two types of delivery apparatuses comprise robots and UAVs, andthe storage device is configured to store computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations of: determining whethera delivery type for the user is UAV delivery, robot delivery or unableto deliver according to the user location information, a location and astate of a robot, and a location and a state of a UAV, and determiningan identifier of a delivery apparatus for delivering at least one of anarticle and service to the user among the delivery apparatuses.
 14. Thedelivery control device according to claim 13, wherein the state of arobot comprises an idle state, a task execution state and other state,the state of a UAV comprises an idle state and a task execution state,and the storage device is configured to store computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations of: determining whethera first delivery type for the user is UAV delivery, provisional robotdelivery or unable to deliver according to the user locationinformation, respective location information of robots in the idle stateor the task execution state, and respective location information of UAVsin the idle state; in a case where the first delivery type is determinedto be unable to deliver, returning information for indicating a deliveryrequest being failed to the user; and in a case where the first deliverytype is determined to be UAV delivery, determining an identifier of aUAV in the idle state and closest to the user, switching a state of theUAV having the determined identifier to the task execution state, andcontrolling the UAV having the determined identifier to deliver at leastone of an article and service to the user.
 15. The delivery controldevice according to claim 14, wherein the storage device is configuredto store computer-executable instructions, which when executed by theone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to performoperations of: determining whether there is any robot in the idle stateor the task execution state within a first area where the user islocated; in a case where it is determined that there is a robot in theidle state or the task execution state within the first area,determining whether or not the user is located within a non-robot activeregion according to the user location information; in a case where it isdetermined that there is no robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within the first area or in a case where it isdetermined that the user is located within the non-robot active region,determining whether there is any UAV in the idle state within a secondarea that is an area encircled by a circle, a circular center of whichis a position of the user and a radius of which is a second distance;and in a case where it is determined that the user is not located withinthe non-robot active region, determining the first delivery type for theuser to be provisional robot delivery; in a case where it is determinedthat there is a UAV in the idle state within the second area,determining the first delivery type to be UAV delivery; and in a casewhere it is determined that there is no UAV in the idle state within thesecond area, determining the first delivery type to be unable todeliver.
 16. The delivery control device according to claim 14, whereinthe storage device is configured to store computer-executableinstructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations of: acquiring the userlocation information for all users for which the first delivery type isdetermined to be provisional robot delivery within a first period oftime, and performing a clustering process on the acquired user locationinformation to obtain one or more first cluster areas and locationinformation of respective first cluster centers of the one or more firstcluster areas; determining, for each first cluster center, whether asecond delivery type for the first cluster center is UAV delivery orrobot delivery according to the location information of the firstcluster center and the number of users within the first cluster areacorresponding to the first cluster center; in a case where the seconddelivery type for the first cluster center is determined to be UAVdelivery, determining an identifier of a UAV in the idle state andclosest to the first cluster center, and switching a state of the UAVhaving the determined identifier to the task execution state; in a casewhere the second delivery type for the first cluster center isdetermined to be robot delivery, calculating delivery costs of robots inthe idle state and robots in the task execution state, the delivery costfor a first cluster center being associated with a distance from a robotto the first cluster center, determining an identifier of a robot havingthe lowest delivery cost, and switching a state of the robot having thedetermined identifier to the task execution state; after the state ofthe UAV having the determined identifier is switched to the taskexecution state, controlling the UAV having the determined identifier todeliver at least one of an article and service to the first clustercenter; and after the state of the robot having the determinedidentifier is switched to the task execution state, controlling therobot having the determined identifier to deliver at least one of anarticle and service to the first cluster center.
 17. The deliverycontrol device according to claim 16, wherein the storage device isconfigured to store computer-executable instructions, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto perform operations of: determining whether or not the number of userswithin the first cluster area corresponding to the first cluster centeris less than a threshold number of users; in a case where the number ofusers within the first cluster area corresponding to the first clustercenter is determined to be less than the threshold number of users,determining whether there is any robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within a third area in which the first cluster center islocated; and in a case where the number of users within the firstcluster area corresponding to the first cluster center is determined tobe larger than or equal to the threshold number of users, determiningthe second delivery type to be robot delivery; in a case where it isdetermined that there is a robot in the idle state or the task executionstate within the third area, determining the second delivery type forthe first cluster center to be robot delivery; and in a case where it isdetermined that there is no robot in the idle state or the taskexecution state within the third area, determining the second deliverytype for the first cluster center to be UAV delivery.
 18. The deliverycontrol device according to claim 13, wherein the at least two types ofdelivery apparatuses comprise robots and UAVs, and the storage device isconfigured to store computer-executable instructions, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto perform operations of: determining whether or not a battery power ofeach of the robots in the idle state is less than a battery powerthreshold; and in a case where the battery power of a robot determinedis less than the battery power threshold, controlling the robot of whichthe battery power is less than the battery power threshold to move to acharging station to charge itself, and switching a state of the robot ofwhich the battery power is less than the battery power threshold to acharging state.